Volkswagen Polo Challenge 3D

Car promo applications haven’t done well in the past in the iPhone App Store – the ill fated Audi A4, for example. But Fishlabs and VW have pooled their resources to produce a shameless car promo (for the new Polo, of course) that’s actually pretty, fun to play and challenging. And, being a promo, it’s free, of course. With a few cool extras, this is a must-download for anyone who fancies a blast of road-car urban rallying.

At its heart, Polo Challenge 3D is a driving game – VW are keen to point out, amusingly, that ‘This game is for entertainment purposes only and does not replicate actual driving experience’ – as if someone was going to order a new Polo based on the feel of a free iPhone game…..! The interesting thing is that by bringing a reputable development house onboard (rather than trying to create a simplistic app in-house), VW have produced a very creditable driving game. There are nine tracks, of increasing interest and difficulty, each being gradually unlocked by you completing the previous one in less than the nominated target time. The level of difficulty is about right and you’ll need numerous tries at some tracks to make the cut.

By default, car control is via on-screen ‘arrow’ buttons, but this is crude and you’ll get far more out of the game by going into ‘Options – Steering’ and setting ‘Controls’ to ‘Accelerometer’, so that you can twist your iPhone or iPod Touch like a steering wheel. There’s even the option to change the sensitivity of the accelerometer input, to fine tune the steering experience. There’s an on-screen brake pedal but you’re unlikely to need it very often (or maybe that’s just me). Acceleration is automatic and the main challenge is to get round corners without getting tangled up in surrounding hedges, trees and walls, all of which drastically slow the Polo down (as you’d expect!)

The sensation of speed is pretty good, the graphics are nicely detailed (in as far as you’d expect for a game that’s free, at least!) and there’s a licensed musical soundtrack and digital sound effects to help create an energetic atmosphere.

This being a promotional application, you’d expect a few splash screens about the product, but VW have gone a lot further than you’d expect. ‘Dealer Search’ takes your current location (as determined by the iPhone’s OS) and brings up your nearest VW dealers who can, presumably, offer you a Polo test drive. Even here, VW go the extra mile, with options to add the dealer to your iPhone Contacts, to show the dealer in Google Maps and to calculate the fastest route from your current position. ‘Press kit’ sounds boring, but is actually a well-illustrated eight page scrollable brochure for the car – everything you need to know about Volkswagen’s latest Polo.

If VW’s aim with Polo Challenge was to generate awareness and real-world interest in the new car then they’ve succeeded in a big way – this is perfectly pitched and put together and I’d love to see more real world products promoted in the same way.